


Fresh Starts

by Settiai



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Community: femslashex, F/F, Mass Effect 3, One Shot, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2016-10-29
Packaged: 2018-08-24 03:02:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8354365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Settiai/pseuds/Settiai
Summary: A lot had changed in three years, but it was surprising how much had stayed the same.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mautadite](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mautadite/gifts).



_"We should talk."_

It was almost funny how three little words could be so terrifying, considering everything that had happened the last few months. Hell, the past three _years_ , if Ashley was being completely honest with herself. Ever since Eden Prime, her life had been nothing but a rollercoaster taking her from one clusterfuck to the next. She'd gone from being a nobody, one more Williams too stubborn to turn tail and run just because her last name meant she wasn't wanted, to being the second human Spectre.

And despite all of that, three quiet words from Shepard were enough to send her stomach fluttering with nervousness like she was a teenager again. She'd been back on the _Normandy_ for less than thirty-six hours, and she was already wondering if she'd made the right decision.

Ashley did her best to resist the urge to fiddle with the ridiculous Blasto t-shirt she was wearing, a gift from Shepard back during those few perfect weeks after the Battle of the Citadel and before Alchera. It had fit perfectly back then, but it hung loose on her current frame, a visible sign of the months she'd spent recuperating from what happened on Mars. She'd hesitated before putting it on, torn between the comfort of familiarity and the fear that it would make the sting even worse if things didn't go well. 

Still, familiarity had won out in the end.

The elevator felt as if it was taking forever to go up two decks. Ashley narrowed her eyes at the door, halfway tempted to give it a good kick even though she knew it was probably just her imagination that it was taking longer than usual.

Well, either that, or EDI was fucking with her again. Both were fairly valid options.

Resisting the urge to do anything to the elevator, Ashley closed her eyes for a moment and just breathed. This was ridiculous. She and Shepard were both adults, after all. There was no reason for her to feel so worried about what might happen.

She pointedly didn't think about Horizon. Or Mars.

The elevator came to a stop with a soft ping, and Ashley took in one last deep breath. Then, as the doors opened in front of her, she stepped out and walked toward the door to Shepard's quarters.

It was closed, of course, but the light shining from the lock was invitingly green. That was something, at least.

After only a moment's hesitation, Ashley reached out and touched the chime on the door.

It opened a second or two later. "Come in!"

Before she could change her mind, Ashley stepped through the door. The lights in the room were dimmer than those outside in the corridor, and it took a second for her eyes to adjust to the difference.

Shepard was sitting at her desk, in the process of putting away a few datapads. When she glanced toward Ashley, the smile that appeared on her face looked genuine. It was the same smile that she'd shot Ashley in the infirmary of the original _Normandy_ , in the aftermath of Eden Prime. The one that had made her fall for her in the first place.

Ashley slowly smiled back.

She could tell the moment that Shepard noticed the shirt she was wearing. Her eyes went wide, the flecks of gold mixed in with the brown almost glittering in the dim light, and her breath hitched loudly enough to be heard even a few feet away.

"You kept it," Shepard said, an odd _something_ in her voice that Ashley couldn't quite read.

Ashley gave her a somewhat sheepish shrug. "Of course I did."

Shepard opened her mouth. Then she closed it, instead pushing herself up from the desk and taking a few steps closer to Ashley. The expression on her face was unreadable.

In the three years she'd known her, Ashley thought that it might honestly be the first time she'd seen Shepard at a loss for words.

Shepard reached out and touched Ashley's hair almost tentatively. She'd left it down after showering earlier, rather than putting it back up in its customary bun. She'd hesitated a bit before doing it, but the memory of how much Shepard had loved it when it was down had been enough to convince her.

It looked like she'd made the right decision.

"I've missed you," Shepard said quietly.

Ashley had never been good with words, not when they were her own at least. It was part of the reason she loved poetry so much. There were so many people out there who had said things much better than she ever could, and it made it so much easier to borrow their words than come up with her own.

Not a single one of them was coming to mind.

So instead she leaned in and pressed a kiss against Shepard's lips, one of her hands resting on the side of Shepard's face.

Shepard stiffened, and for just a second Ashley thought that she'd made a mistake. Another mistake, at least, yet one more to add to the list. She was just about to pull away, apologies already on her lips.

Then Shepard relaxed, one of her hands coming down to rest on Ashley's hips. And she kissed her back.

Time seemed to stop for a moment or so. Or maybe it was more that it seemed to run backwards, back to happier times before they'd realized just how fucked they were in regards to the Reapers.

"We really do need to talk," Shepard murmured, pulling away a little.

Ashley made a protesting noise. "This counts as talking," she argued, pressing her lips against Shepard's again for just a moment. Then she pulled away again. "See? Kissing and talking."

Shepard laughed, a quiet huff of breath blowing against Ashley's lips. Then she pulled away with more than a fair bit of reluctance, not enough that either of them needed to move their hands from each other's bodies but enough to break the kiss.

It was a start.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me over on Tumblr. (http://settiai.tumblr.com/)


End file.
